A Fire You Can't Extinguish
by pikapika01
Summary: "What makes you think you can snuff me out, Cato?" "What makes you think I can't?" He growled. "Simple. I won't be defeated, especially by someone like you." Things are looking grim for Katniss, especially when shes trapped by a pack of Careers. However, The Girl on Fire refuses to be extinguished.
1. Chapter 1

Katniss couldn't believe her luck so far. First, her leg got badly burnt because of some horrible pun the Gamemakers probably made up, and now she was treed by a pack of ruthless bloodthirsty Careers. Adding insult to injury, Peeta was part of the pack as well. That dirty little traitor! She sighed inwardly. How she longed to have her best friend Gale here in the woods with her, instead of the lethal killing machines that are plotting her death below. She shook her head. No, she wouldn't want Gale here with her. Because, in the end, he would be her opponent in these brutal Games, someone she would have to kill.

"I say we slit her wrists, and she could bleed out." The girl from Four suggested. Katniss was surprised the girl from Four was a contributor to the Careers' discussion of her demise. She really didn't seem the type. But then again, she was a Career.

The girl from Two, Clove (At least, Katniss thought that was her name), smiled as she fiddled with her knife. "Way too tame. I say we rip her to shreds."

Glimmer laughed as she slithered her arm underneath Cato's. "Oh, Clove, how plain! We need something with a bit more…sparkle to it. What do you think, Cato?"

Katniss glared at the congregated tributes below. She would make them pay for this. If she survived this, she would make them pay dearly.

Cato pulled his arm away from Glimmer's, clearly not liking the invasion of his personal space. He stared at the roaring campfire, before smirking at his fellow Careers. "I say we take care of it like we would any other fire that needs to be extinguished. Trample it."

The Careers howled with laughter, while Peeta just stared at the ground. Cato looked up towards the tree where Katniss was, the smirk still adorning his face. "You like that idea, Fire Girl?"

Katniss returned Cato's smirk with her own. No way was she going to just sit here and take this. "Be careful, Cato. When you mess with fire, you get burned." Her smirk grew as Cato's shrank. She swore she heard a couple of snickers come from the others, especially Peeta.

Cato must have heard them too, as he whipped around, furious at being made a fool of twice within a couple of hours. "Enough!" He roared. "Everyone get some sleep, I'll take first watch." The Careers obeyed him, probably because they knew better than to defy the angered monster from Two. Cato took his post under Katniss' tree after doing a quick survey of their campsite. Katniss decided to tie herself down for the night as well. Maybe, she would come up with something that would get her out of this mess.

Within an hour, the Career pack was sound asleep. _'How nice it must be to not have to worry about finding a safe place to sleep for the night.'_ Katniss thought as she fiddled with her first sponsor gift, the burn ointment. She was about to drift off to sleep too, when she heard Cato talk.

"You knew that the branch was going to snap, didn't you?"

Katniss sighed. Should she be honest with him? She had nothing to gain from lying or telling the truth. "Yes."

He laughed. "Guess I'm going to enjoy extinguishing that little fire of yours a lot more then, huh?"

"What makes you think you can snuff me out, Cato?"

"What makes you think I can't?" He growled.

"Simple. I won't be defeated, especially by someone like you." She fired back.

"I highly doubt that, Twelve, even with your eleven-worthy skills."

"We'll just see about that, won't we?" Katniss responded coolly. This Career's arrogance was getting on her last nerve! She always hated cocky arrogant guys.

Cato stood up and turned to face her tree. He inclined his head towards her. "Oh, we will, and when you're writhing underneath me, begging for mercy, I'm going to relish every moment of proving how wrong you are." He chuckled a bit, as he sneered. "Sweet dreams, sweetheart, because they're going to be your last."

Cato stalked off to wake Glimmer for her watch. The poor blonde was still half- asleep, and quickly continued her slumber after plopping herself under the tall tree Katniss currently occupied. Cato drifted off as well, leaving The Girl on Fire unsupervised. She was about to give up before some movement in a couple of trees away from her caught her eye. She swiveled her head towards it, and was met with a pair of brown eyes staring straight at her. Katniss widened her eyes in surprise. It was Rue! The small female tribute from District 11 was perched silent and unmoving on a thick branch. She pointed at Katniss before pointing above her head. Katniss looked up and noticed a tracker jacker nest, its inhabitants still a bit sedated from all the smoke in the arena. When she looked back at Rue, the small girl was gone.

Katniss smiled. This was going to be her ticket out. She glanced back at Cato, sound asleep and completely unsuspecting of her retaliation. _'Sorry, Cato, but there are some fires you just can't extinguish.'_

* * *

**Hi Everyone! This was my first fanfiction for the Hunger Games! I really like the pairing CatoXKatniss, but I really don't think I was ready to come up with a full on romance story for them...so I did the next best thing! Anywho, as this is my first HG fanfiction please feel free to give tips and/or advice in a review or pm. Thanks for reading and feel free to review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Well, after much thought, I decided to give this story another chapter. Hooray! This one's a bit different from the previous chapter for a couple of reasons: 1) I didn't write this at 4AM and 2) I've recently enrolled in a creative writing class at school so it might be a bit better...hopefully...Well, anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

_"Ambition is a lust that is never quenched, but grows more inflamed and madder by enjoyment."_

_-Thomas Otway_

* * *

It was simple. Well, it should've been simple. All Katniss had to do was grab Peeta's medicine and get out before anyone could notice her. An easy and efficient get in and get out type of deal. But, of course, things had to become difficult. This was the Hunger Games after all. Where was the entertainment in "easy" or "simple"?

Cato saw her, that was for certain. Any moment now she expected to hear the towering blonde's thunderous steps pounding towards her. She didn't hear a thing though. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. She peaked her head out of her tree-sanctuary to see if anyone was actually tailing her. Since nobody was there, she decided to jump down and continue her way back to Peeta. Wrong move. As soon as her feet touched the ground a small knife whizzed by her head and became wedged inside the tree in front of her.

"Take one more step and I promise you the next one won't miss." A boy growled behind her.

Katniss froze. The Girl on Fire would never admit to feeling scared, but Katniss Everdeen felt a twinge of something in her gut. "What do you want, Cato."

He laughed raucously as he walked towards her, a little swagger in every step. After all, he had within his grasp what every Career in the 74th Annual Hunger Games dreamed of; extinguishing the Girl on Fire. "Simple, beautiful, I want you to die." He whispered into her ear. He twirled a knife in his hand, eerily reminding Katniss of his vicious and knife-loving District partner. "A rat like you has lived far too long in these Games."

Katniss had to think fast. The image of a frail and wounded Peeta getting worse every second swirled her brain. The loyal blonde was bad when she left, he must be nearing his limit soon…

"Lover Boy on your mind? How cute. Even when death is a foot away you still think of him, the poor lovesick puppy."

"That's none of your business, Cato!" She growled. In a bout of anger, Katniss turned and threw a fist at the District 2 tribute.

Cato anticipated her move and grabbed her punch. "That it?" He sneered. She thrashed in his grasp, but he would have none of it. He pinned her up against a nearby tree, her head mere inches away from the knife he threw a couple of minutes ago.

He stared into her Seam gray eyes. This was it, the moment he has been waiting days for. Ever since the morning she threw the tracker jacker nest upon him and his fellow Careers, he knew that she was the target. She was his main antagonist, his true enemy. From the dreams that she plagued, (Oh, God, those dreams!) Cato knew that she was the one that will give him complete satisfaction. He pressed himself against her and relished every moment. Just this once, he was able to forget that this was being televised across Panem and completely gave himself up to his animalistic desires. Yes, he would indeed kill her in his own way.

Katniss tried once more to break free, but Cato just grinded himself into her even more. The Girl on Fire panicked. How would she get of this mess? Before Katniss could even conjure a thought, Cato let out a growl and forced a rough and possessive kiss onto her. He bit on her bottom lip so hard that it drew blood and shoved his tongue deep into her mouth.

Enough was enough! No way was she going to let Cato do this to her any longer. If she was going down, she was going down with pride and dignity! The Girl on Fire let her temper flare and blood boil as she clamped down hard onto his tongue and gave him a firm shove on his chest. This bought her enough time to give her caught-off-guard assailant a swift knee to the groin. She watched as Cato went down with a yelp and writhe on the forest floor in pain. By the time the Career staggered to his feet, his prey was a good twenty feet away.

Cato watched her retreating form with narrowed eyes. She may have won this battle, but they weren't through with each other. No, not yet.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave an awesome review about the story, or to tell me if the creative writing class paid off! We only started about a couple of weeks ago, so hopefully I can get even better! Thanks again and please feel free to leave a wonderful review! :3**


End file.
